The Indian equities closed on a weak note. Banks, capital goods, power remained the major laggards on the bourses. Banking stocks tumbled further after a Reserve Bank of India committee recommended tightening regulations on loan restructuring, including setting aside higher provisions.

In todays entire trading session, the NSE Nifty struggled at around 5,200 mark and closed above that level. Stocks like ITC, Reliance, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ONGC and SBI were the negative contributors to the bourses.

The Sensex was down 120.41 points or 0.70% at 17158.44, and the Nifty was down 37.60 points or 0.72% at 5205.10.

Technical analyst Sudarshan Sukhani, s2analytics.com sees Nifty stuck in a narrow range and its direction being unclear. "The Nifty's drift below 5,220 was the first sign that there is weakness but not enough to justify taking short positions,"

A buying opportunity would emerge only if the Nifty breaches 5,260-5,270, however, its levels on the downside still remain uncertain, Sukhani added.

Top losers on the Sensex were Dr Reddys Labs at Rs 1,611.20 down 2.68%, BHEL at Rs 228.85 down 2.47%, ICICI Bank at Rs 935 down 1.58%, Cipla at Rs 327 down 1.52% and Wipro at Rs 363.20 down 1.47%.

Top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto at Rs 1,590.60 up 2.67%, Maruti Suzuki at Rs 1,144.55 up 2.43%, TCS at Rs 1,223.05 up 1.86%, Coal India at Rs 360.95 up 0.38% and Tata Steel at Rs 415.80 up 0.28%.

Top losers on the BSE Midcap - Indiabulls, Rallis India, HT Media, Motilal Oswal and Greaves Cotton were down 3-5%.

Turnover: The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 8,412.69 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 1,18,729.57 crore. The BSE cash turnover was Rs 1694.47 crore. The total turnover stood at Rs 1,99,774.74 crore

On the global front, Asian markets closed lower while European markets were trading weak.